Boxing in the 1990s

1980s Boxing in the 1990s 2000s

As in the 1980s, the 1990s in boxing's popularity focused on all divisions. When 1980s legends Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, as well as others retired, newer superstars filled the void: Pernell Whitaker, Julio César Chávez, in the early 1990s, Oscar De La Hoya, Félix Trinidad, Roy Jones Jr. and Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the mid to late 1990s. As for the heavyweight division, Mike Tyson's reign ended prematurely with the upset loss to Buster Douglas. Former cruiserweight champion, Evander Holyfield took over as the undisputed champion of the division, and later built a rivalry against former Olympic silver medalist, Riddick Bowe. The later 1990s was dominated by Lennox Lewis who unified the division in 1999. The 1990s also saw the emergence of the battles between the British super middleweight fighters Chris Eubank, Michael Watson and Nigel Benn.

February 11 – Buster Douglas upsets Mike Tyson by 10th round KO in Tokyo, to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Douglas was a 42–1 underdog. March 17 – Thunder Meets Lightning: Julio César Chávez defeats Meldrick Taylor by 12th round KO, for the WBC IBF light welterweight unification. There was controversy as referee Richard Steele stops the contest with 2 seconds left in the bout and Taylor ahead on the scorecards. August 11 – Pernell Whitaker defeats Juan Nazario by first round knockout to unify the WBA, WBC, IBF belts and becomes the undisputed lightweight champion of the world. October 25 – Buster Douglas's short reign as heavyweight champion ends as he loses to Evander Holyfield by third round KO. Douglas was very noticeably out of shape, despite being in pinnacle shape in the Tyson fight, eight months and two weeks before. November 11 – Julian Jackson wins by stunning knockout over Herol Graham by a devastating 4th round KO for the vacated WBC middleweight title. Graham, ahead in the fight, was knocked out by Jackson by a devastating right hand and was out for five minutes. November 18 – Chris Eubank wins the WBO middleweight title by beating Nigel Benn by 9th round TKO.

February 9 – Terry Norris soundly defeats Sugar Ray Leonard by 12 round unanimous decision, and successfully defends his WBC super welterweight title. March 8 In Atlantic City, New Jersey, Tim Witherspoon defeats Carl Williams via a 12 round split decision to become the new USBA heavyweight champion. March 18 Simon Brown stops Maurice Blocker in 10 rounds to unify the IBF/WBC welterweight titles. April 19 – in his first defense as undisputed heavyweight champion, Evander Holyfield defeats George Foreman by unanimous decision. Foreman was surprisingly valiant in defeat despite being 42 years of age. June 1 – in Palm Springs, California Terry Norris knocks out Donald Curry in the 8th round and successfully defends the WBC super welterweight championship. December 13 James Toney fought Mike McCallum to a draw, Toney retained his IBF middleweight title.

May 15 Michael Moorer stops Bert Cooper in 5 rounds to become the new WBO Heavyweight championship. June 19 – Evander Holyfield successfully defends his undisputed heavyweight championship by unanimous decision over Larry Holmes. October 31 Crisanto Espana stops Meldrick Taylor in 8 rounds to win the WBA Welterweight championship. November 13 – Riddick Bowe defeats Evander Holyfield by 12 round unanimous decision to become the undisputed champion of the world.

March 13 – Michael Carbajal wins by KO against Humberto González to unify the IBF and WBC Flyweight belts. Carbajal got knocked down twice during the fight and came back to knock out Gonzalez late in the seventh round. May 22 – Roy Jones Jr. defeats Bernard Hopkins by unanimous decision to win the vacated IBF middleweight title. September 10 – Julio César Chávez and Pernell Whitaker's fight for the WBC welterweight title ends in a controversial draw, despite Whitaker seemingly dominating the fight. October 1 – Lennox Lewis beats Frank Bruno in the seventh round by a technical knockout. Lewis was defending his WBC Heavyweight title. It was the first time that two British born boxers had fought for the world heavyweight title. November 6 – Evander Holyfield defeats Riddick Bowe by majority decision in their rematch for the WBA and IBF heavyweight titles. A man parachutes to the corner of the ring during the fight and starts a mini riot, the fight is later labelled the Fan Man Fight.

March 16 – Mike Tyson defeats Frank Bruno by third round KO to win the WBC heavyweight title. June 7 – Oscar De La Hoya defeats Julio César Chávez by fourth round KO to win the WBC light welterweight title. July 11 – Andrew Golota gets disqualified during the seventh round of a fight against Riddick Bowe at Madison Square Garden for striking low blows against Bowe. A massive riot ensues, in which many civilians are injured. September 7 – Mike Tyson defeats Bruce Seldon in one round for the WBA heavyweight title, unifying it with the WBC heavyweight title he already holds. Tupac Shakur, an American rapper, watched the fight but was fatally shot later on that night. He died 6 days later. September 24 – Mike Tyson is stripped of the WBC heavyweight title. November 9 – Evander Holyfield wins by technical knockout against Mike Tyson to win the WBA heavyweight title. December 14 – Andrew Golota gets disqualified again against Riddick Bowe for low blows in their rematch.